


The Spoils of the Spoiled

by not_poignant



Series: Fae Tales - AUs, Oneshots and More [1]
Category: Fae Tales - not_poignant, Original Work
Genre: Blackmail, Blow Jobs, Bullying, Classism, Consent Issues, Dorm Life - Freeform, Dysfunctional Family, Eating Disorder, F/F, Family Abuse, First Time, Highschool AU, M/M, Semi-Public Sex, Theft, along with 'fuck you' attitudes towards all of them, criminal activity, emotional blackmail, in the closet, panphobia, the general phobias and isms of highschool, tropes tropes tropes, underage depending on your country, where is this school no one knows
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-13
Updated: 2014-09-04
Packaged: 2018-02-12 23:01:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2127711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_poignant/pseuds/not_poignant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Highschool is a trying time for pretty much everyone. But it <i>definitely</i> is when you're dealing with an abusive family at home, an eating disorder, championships, and the Prefect of the House of Ravens is trying to emotionally blackmail you into...well, anything he damn well wants. (An Augus and Gwyn story that needs absolutely no understanding of previous canon/content to read).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Blood on the Floor

**Author's Note:**

> Where is this highschool set? No one knows. It's a weird amalgamation of Australian and England practices, but really it's set in some mythical parallel human country where I can make up the rules (*lies down and contemplates laziness*). As for age, the age of consent in Australia (where I live) is _sixteen_ \- but that's pretty young for most of you readers, so I imagine the characters are 17, except for Augus, who is 18 - but had to repeat some highschool due to some seriously disadvantaged childhood situations. I've chosen not to use archive warnings so I can explain the situation here: legal for me, not legal for some of you - it's at your discretion if you want to read it. 
> 
> As always, you can expect some violence, abuse, dark themes and consent violation. It will also look at pansexual erasure and transphobia (depending on how far the story gets), though *neither* of these things will be condoned as okay as the story progresses. You can also expect a whole lot of general highschool nastiness. And swearing. :D
> 
> Feedback is love, folks!

_Gwyn_

_*_

Gwyn stood, embarrassed, in his wrestling gear. He didn’t even have enough time to grab his sweats, and consequently he was standing – feeling pretty damned near naked – in nothing more than compression shorts which left nothing to the imagination, and wrestling shoes. He shifted from foot to foot in his Omniflex shoes and Ash snorted next to him. Well, it was all very well for _him,_ he didn’t look like he was coming off just before the end of his stripper act.

The Principal stood before them, something like cold-hearted murder in his blue eyes. Heading on past sixty, having facial hair as neatly clipped and maintained as his suit, Principal Albion was terrifying most of the time; even when he appeared to be in a good mood.

But when they were pulled up side by side in front of him like _this…_

The last time Gwyn had gotten in so much trouble, a young boy had been expelled from the school and Gwyn had his heart broken.

‘Gwyn ap Nudd, you’re a star pupil, you’re not known for fighting. What were you thinking?’

Each line delivered with military precision.

Gwyn was used to that.

‘Sir,’ Gwyn said carefully, trying not to listen to the monologue of _naked, naked, naked, naked, practically naked_ running through the back of his head. His compression shorts were a shiny dove grey, they really _didn’t_ hide anything and Gwyn was pretty sure that Albion knew more about his dick than any Principal really had a right to. ‘He was the one who sabotaged Coach Davix’s car before the championships. I _saw_ him. And I was going to-’

‘No, you fucking did not!’ Ash spat, sounding far more nasal than usual to the blood still oozing thick from his nose. Gwyn looked briefly down at his bloodied knuckles, then stared down at Ash.

‘ _Language,’_ Albion reprimanded, and Ash made a hissing-whistling sound complicated by the fact that his nose was possibly broken.

Gwyn’s ribs were already starting to look like a Francis Bacon painting. He was lucky nothing had fractured. Probably because Ash had gone for his _kidneys._ Shit-kicking street rat.

‘Sir, I was going to go through the proper channels. I’d already reported it to Head of House. But- He was _gloating_ about it in the change rooms, and I saw red.’

‘Glashtyn, is that true?’

‘Sir, come on, man. Look at me. Do I look like the kind of person who would-’

‘Do I need to get out your records?’

‘More like a rap sheet,’ Gwyn muttered.

_‘Gwyn,’_ Albion snapped, and Gwyn drew himself as straight as he could and wanted sweatpants, a robe, _anything._ It was okay when he was about to go out on the mat – but Principal Albion hung out with his dad. It was just…gross.

‘Gwyn’s a dick,’ Ash rumbled. ‘Sorry, sorry, _language._ I mean, what I _really_ mean is that he just went at me. Like no provocation. I wasn’t gloating about anything. I just wanted to get changed and get back to dorm. My brother’s helping me study for a final. You know.’

‘Gwyn, you’re dismissed. I’m putting a note in your permanent file over this, but I won’t take any action until I’ve had a longer talk with Ash, here.’

‘Great,’ Ash muttered.

‘Do you _want_ to be suspended again? I’m quite certain that losing that full scholarship will hurt your brother’s chances of a university education quite a lot.’

Ash said nothing at all, his whole body hunched in on itself.

Gwyn left, glad for the fact that it was late afternoon and most of his fellow students would be back in their dorms so that not many had to witness his – _practically naked_ – walk back to the change rooms. Even so, as he made his way through the Murdock Academy of Excellence, he heard several wolf whistles from boys and girls alike, and looked up to see several hands and pointing fingers marking him out.

He glowered his way back into the now deserted change rooms and showered off quickly, barely wincing as the bruises shifted on his body. He’d dealt with far worse, though he could feel that it was going to dog him for the rest of the week. The sucker punch to the kidneys had been the worst. He rubbed at his lower back carefully, then sighed. Rubbing it wasn’t going to do anything, he just had to wait it out.

He dressed into his school issue sweats and jumper – House of Doves put him in the school colours of black and blue, along with the highlights of the pale grey they were known for. He was shaking water out of his hair as he took his backpack out of his locker, shoving his phone into his pocket and toeing into his sneakers as he went.

It was dark when he headed back to his dorm, and no one pointed and shouted at him now. He walked down streets lit with yellow lights, canopies hanging over him, hardly noticing the picturesque school.

He took those sorts of things for granted, after all.

*

Later that night, he stood in his private toilet, one hand resting on the wall and staring down into the bowl, grateful that he wasn’t pissing blood.

He’d dealt with that before too.

His phone rang at nine exactly, and he picked it up promptly, cancelling out the inane Hellogoodbye ringtone that Ondine had programmed into it – and refused to teach him how to change it again. He’d tried googling, but he was too lazy to look thoroughly. Consequently, the bouncy words ‘everything is debatable’ met the grim face of his father when he picked up the phone.

_Not entirely debatable._

‘Dad,’ Gwyn said, highlighting a passage in his text and hardly knowing if it was significant. He closed his eyes and shook the remnants of rage out of his head. He’d wanted to _destroy_ Ash. Really, Ash was lucky that Gwyn got dragged off him.

‘Is it true? Did you get in an altercation with Ash Glashtyn? Scum of the school?’

‘No- I mean, yes, but, Dad, I-’

‘If you can’t speak in an articulate sentence then you’d best not speak at all,’ his father snapped.

Gwyn slowly lowered his head until it rested on the highlighted text. It was _just_ damp enough that he wondered if he’d have smears of yellow on his forehead.

Silence stretched, and Gwyn realised that this was not one of those ‘don’t speak unless you’re spoken to’ times, opened his mouth to respond.

_‘Well?’_ his father shouted.

_Fuck._

‘He was the one who keyed Coach Davix’s car. He broke the windscreen and the windows. I reported it to Old Pete like I was supposed to, but he just kept going on about it in the change rooms.’

‘So you decided to act like some jumped up kid on steroids and take him out, did you?’

‘No, Dad, I swear, it was just- with the championships, I-’

‘You are _very_ fortunate that you are not in front of me right now,’ his father said, his voice going quiet and deadly with promise. Gwyn snuck an arm around his torso and nodded, even though his father couldn’t see the response.

‘Yes, Dad,’ Gwyn managed finally, his voice as meek as it ever got.

‘I don’t want you to have anything to do with those boys, do you understand me?’

‘Dad, I don’t think me breaking Ash’s nose is-’

‘ _Nothing,’_ his father said. ‘Your reputation is already on a knife’s edge as it is. You keep mis-stepping as you are, and I’ll ship you off to a military academy faster than you can say ‘but Dad.’’

Gwyn opened his mouth to say ‘but Dad-’ and realised that was…the point. Thoroughly shamed, he pressed his thumb and index finger into his eyes and focused on his breathing. He was lucky that he wasn’t home. His father sounded like he was in a mood.

_Because of you._

‘Why can’t you be more like your cousin?’ his father sighed.

‘I don’t know, Dad,’ Gwyn said, clearing his throat.

‘You’re not crying like some dick-sucking poof, are you? Jesus, I didn’t raise-’

_‘Dad,’_ Gwyn said, shaking his head. ‘Not crying.’

But he _was_ a fag. Something his father knew very well, and kept trying to forget. Or beat out of him. Or berate him with insults until he magically became straight. None of it seemed to work. Though Gwyn was pretty enthusiastically behind the idea of celibacy until he could move out of the _country._

‘I want you home this weekend.’

_Great. Re-education. Fucking_ great.

‘Dad, I have mocks, and I have-’

‘This attitude of yours is a problem,’ his father said, then hung up the phone.

Gwyn thumped his forehead against his book several times, dropping his phone beside him and grateful for the Otterbox that protected it as it hit the hardwood. He’d needed to get one of those after his last altercation with his father had caused his iPhone to fly out of his hand and smash against tile. A few moments later, he’d practically done the same.

He laughed to himself. Others might be more worried, sure. He’d been in health class. He’d seen all the documentaries about how domestic violence was _wrong._

But try telling that to the well-respected An-Fnwy family who had their names on _two_ of the buildings in the school, and owned a hospital wing.

There was nothing wrong about any sort of violence if you had enough money to smooth things over.

Gwyn decided to go to bed early. He skipped dinner. He didn’t have the energy to look through it all and make sure his food was safe to eat. He could catch some fruit for breakfast the next morning.

Even so, he rested his hands on his growling stomach as he fell asleep, only vaguely remembering that he’d skipped lunch and the previous night’s dinner as well.

He was going to fall out of his weight division if he kept doing that…

It was his last thought, before he slept, yellow smears on his forehead.


	2. Don't Let the Bastards Get You Down

_Augus_

*

Ash lay on his back on his bed, a bag of frozen peas over his nose and eyes, dried blood sticking to the underside of his nostrils and tissues sticking out, making him look – all in all – not nearly as charming as he usually liked to appear. Augus paced their small room in frustration, hands in fists, wishing they were back at the pad, and knowing that Head of House wouldn’t let them go while Ash was in this state. He may have been far more lax than anyone realised about what Augus and Ash did with their time, but not while Ash looked like an abuse victim.

‘We’ve covered up a lot of things,’ Augus hissed. ‘Do you think _murdering_ Gwyn could be one of them?’

‘It’s not even broken,’ Ash said from the bed. Though it sounded more like: _Ib’d nod eben brogen._

‘After the way that Coach treated you when we saw him the other day, you should have set _fire_ to his car. I would have helped!’

‘That’s saying something, coming from you.’

‘Shut up. Just… _shut up._ I know you, you _dick_ , remember? I know how you gloat. Why’d you have to do it in front of the hulk? You know how he gets when he loses his temper.’

‘Normally he’s doing it on the mat! He doesn’t get involved in _fights.’_

‘He put his opponent in hospital in the last championships and he didn’t break any _rules_ to do it!’

‘Urgh,’ Ash groaned, reaching behind him, grabbing his earphones and plugging them into his ears. A moment later, volume blasting, Augus could actually make out the sound of _Taking Back Sunday_ playing through tinnily, mocking his rage. He stalked forwards and yanked them out of Ash’s ears. The headphones Ash had stolen. The phone he’d stolen. The clothes he’d _stolen._

‘This is a big deal, you little twat,’ Augus hissed. ‘The Principal called me in and told me to keep a closer eye on you. You might be used to suspension and threats of expulsion, but it’s like you constantly forget that without this full scholarship, we’re back on the streets, living off food you filch every which way and me working jobs for shit pay. At least here things are a bit better, if you could just…’

‘What? Stop keying cars? Dude, didn’t you just say you’d help me to set fire to it? Come on, man. Give me a break. I didn’t know I was _seen.’_

‘You’re an _idiot._ He’s calling in the police. They’re going to dust the car for prints!’

‘Give me some credit,’ Ash groaned, nasal and sounding pained. ‘Haven’t been lifting cars for so long to leave some prints on the thing.’

‘With Gwyn ap Nudd as a witness, it won’t matter. That family has-’

‘Fuck _Gwen_ and that fucking family. Fuck them all. And screw your lectures. Jesus, can you fucking _knock it off?_ We’re fine! You’re fine! Your precious scholarship is fine, and you’re-’

‘ _Our_ scholarship,’ Augus snarled. ‘You’re living here too. You go to school here too. I may have done all the work on that application, but it applies to _both_ of us.’

‘It’s all fine!’ Ash shouted, ripping the peas off his face and throwing them at Augus’ face so hard that Augus’ hands only came up in time because of years of fencing training. He clutched the bag between his fingers and saw the tears in Ash’s eyes, the quirk of his lips, realised with a shock of horror and disgust that Ash was dangerously close to crying. ‘It’s fine, isn’t it? I didn’t _mean_ to get caught! I haven’t ruined it, have I? I can go straight and narrow for a few weeks. I promise. I promise, Augus.’

Augus raked a hand through his hair, forgot he was wearing a hair tie, and dragged that and several strands from his scalp, wincing as he did so. He shook the hair band to the floor and loosened the tie he wore – house colours of violet overlaying the black and dark blue of Academy. He folded the tie to give himself something to do, calming his breathing.

It wasn’t fair on Ash to take it out on him. He’d only spent his whole life getting by with theft, and even now that they had food and education and even shelter provided for them…

Well, a scholarship wasn’t clothing and footwear and smartphones and headphones and everything else they needed to not look like they were the lowest of the low in the school.

Augus made full use of his brother’s theft when it was convenient to him.

He sat down on his bed, opposite Ash, and rubbed the heel of his palm over his forehead.

‘I have essays due,’ Augus said tiredly. ‘I have to work this weekend. I’ve got assignments to write for the uni students that won’t write them themselves and pay through the nose for their sacred ‘non-plagiarised’ material. Ash, you just…’

Deep in his gut, a seething, twisting anger. Gwyn ap Nudd, _again._ He represented everything Augus hated about the stupid Academy. All the rich kids getting their privileged ride through the whole damned thing. Money falling out of their pockets and their wallets. Gwyn and his stupid cousin, Efnisien, wearing rage and cruelty on their sleeves and getting off every single charge pushed against them. Gwyn didn’t even get suspended for nearly breaking Ash’s nose.

It reminded him of a lifetime of looking at children with their birth parents, not in some shitty foster system, having no concept of what work or true independence or _suffering_ was. Where their most pressing question was ‘ _What am I going to be when I grow up?’_ and not ‘ _Can I get enough food to eat today?’_

He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the table, throwing the frozen peas back to Ash when he waggled his fingers for them.

Ash wasn’t the only one who did ‘terrible’ things.

He was just the one most likely to get _caught._

Augus had his own games, his own pieces in play.

‘I could ruin him,’ Augus said quietly. ‘Something to do. Might be good to see one of them pushed off their pedestal.’

‘What?’ Ash said, pulling the peas off his nose again. He turned and faced Augus, and then groaned at what must have been a killer headache. ‘Don’t Augus. _Don’t_ mess with that family. You can’t lecture me about it and then go after them yourself.’

‘The difference between you and I, brother, is that my methods are rather different.’

‘You can’t mind-fuck someone with no fucking _mind._ Go after Effles instead. Fucking monster.’

‘Gwyn’s had it out for you for some time,’ Augus mused, crossing his legs and leaning back against the wall, slumping so artfully that his lungs and sternum were practically crushed with the way his spine was curving. ‘If it wasn’t this, it would have been something else. People expect me to go after Efnisien, because he’s also Prefect. Efnisien’s also _straight_ as a fucking board, which complicates things a tad.’

‘Augus, you can’t be _serious,’_ Ash said, and Augus couldn’t pick his tone – awe or disgust.

‘What?’ Augus said, smirking. ‘I’m bored. I could do with another project.’

‘Fuck that,’ Ash muttered. He reached for his headphones again, and soon the room was filled with tinny men screaming angrily about betrayal and bad relationships.

Augus ended up doing his essays in the common room; cheap black coffee making his stomach hurt and a packet of Pro Plus sitting next to pens and pencils and all other stationary that – if not provided by the school – had been thoughtfully provided by Ash’s thieving fingers.

*

The next morning he was woken by Ash amongst the bustle of other students walking past the door in the corridor to their classes. He swore quietly as he packed up all his papers, his laptop, shoved them all in his case and was sure that one day the laptop was just going to croak. Thank goodness for Dropbox and the external hard-drive that Ash had…well…

Re-appropriated.

He hadn’t showered, though he’d done a fair amount of work and was ahead once more.

_For now._

Ash handed him an apple, and Augus handed it back, wanting something savoury. But he’d made no sandwiches and couldn’t technically afford anything junky from the cafeteria.

Ash opened his rucksack and lifted out pre-made sandwiches, and winked a hazel eye at him.

‘You are a _life saver,’_ Augus said fervently.

He took in Ash’s face – two black eyes, though not as bad as some he’d sported in the past. Mostly just bruising in the bags beneath his eyes; he hadn’t slept well. Some delicate discolouration around the outsides of his nose. No more blood. His dark red hair was wet and springy, dripping onto his school jacket – not that he cared. His tie was askew, and if Augus went to fix it, Ash would slap his hands away and swear at him.

‘Augus,’ Mr. Prince said, leaning into the room. ‘Leaving it rather late again, aren’t you? Those all-nighters aren’t good for your training. I rather think you’re going to suffer for it today out on the _piste.’_

‘Fuck, is he not kidding,’ Ash said, as Mr. Prince walked away, prim steps stalking neatly from the room. ‘You’re gonna get thrashed, right?’

‘He’s angry,’ Augus said under his breath. ‘He doesn’t like it when I pull all-nighters, and I didn’t get the pills out of the way in time. He probably saw them, before. He wakes up before most of the other students.’

‘Raven Prince,’ Ash muttered, licking his lips nervously. ‘Raven Prince’ was the common nickname for the Head of Raven House. No one knew his first name. Augus had tried peeking at his mail before, and Mr. Prince had spotted him and sent him on his way, Augus’ heart skittering up in his throat and feeling far more nervous than usual.

Augus had most students and teachers wrapped around his little finger. But Mr. Prince was the opposite. He’d read far too much about law and war and strategy. He knew all of Augus’ games.

He probably even knew that Augus sold his essay-writing services to university students.

He might have a soft-spot for the brothers. But he wasn’t _soft._

‘He makes me feel like a peasant,’ Augus griped, shoving sandwiches in his bag and yawning. No shower, coming off caffeine pills, more work to do.

They both looked up when Trow ran into the room. He was three years below them both, a math prodigy. He held printed papers in his hand.

‘I couldn’t find you!’ he said, his grey eyes wide with panic, pale mouse-brown hair spiked up every which way. ‘Here. For calc. I got your trig stuff coming, I promise! Don’t be mad.’

‘Why, I’m not mad,’ Augus said smoothly, ruffling Trow’s hair and taking the papers, looking over his shoulder to the corridor beyond. ‘Thank you for taking the time to find me. Now get along to your class.’

‘Yes, Sir! Prefect Augus!’

‘That’s a nice little racket you’ve got going,’ Ash grumbled, as Augus carefully folded the completed papers away.

‘We all know the importance of keeping up a grade point average,’ Augus said. ‘Besides, like I had time to attend most of my classes before we got here. Like _you_ did.’

‘If he turns tail on you…’

‘He’s too scared to,’ Augus said quietly. ‘I know his mother has gotten almost three charges illegally overturned.’

Ash blinked at him.

Augus took out his phone, opened his app and scrolled through it hurriedly, and pressed play.

_‘-totally. Oh yeah, no she totally got the Judge to do it. They were having an affair. It’s such shit. She should’ve gone to jail and maybe I wouldn’t have to put up with her anymore, I mean-’_

Ash shook his head, a slow grin on his mouth, when Augus pressed stop and shoved his phone into his pocket.

‘It’s illegal to record people without their permission.’

‘Is it?’ Augus said, widening his eyes in mock innocence. ‘It hardly matters. _Trow_ doesn’t know that. And he thinks hell on earth will rain down on him and his family if he doesn’t keep me in business.’

‘I thought you weren’t doing that anymore. Jesus, how many other students are you doing that to?’

‘Enough,’ Augus said, smiling. ‘And soon, one more.’

‘ _Don’t,’_ Ash said, as Augus walked from the room. ‘Don’t fuck with that family, Augus! Seriously!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In our next chapter:
> 
> ‘Go on then,’ Augus said, licking his lips slowly. ‘Deck me in the library. Without cause. The second unfortunate brother who can only afford to be here on a full scholarship. That’s going to bolster your case, isn’t it? I dare you. You think I haven’t been hit before?’ 
> 
> Gwyn’s hand flexed, clenched, flexed again. He wanted to run out of there – screw the elevator, he needed to burn off energy on the stairs. He wanted to go. He had to _go home_ that night, look his father in the eyes, pretend this wasn’t happening. 
> 
> ‘Can you just tell me what you want?’ Gwyn said. ‘Please?’


	3. Your New Favourite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No new tags really, but a whole lot of exploitation going on. :D

_Gwyn_

*

‘The word you’re looking for is assonance,’ a smooth voice said behind him.

Gwyn startled, his pen flying out of his hand and hitting the floor, rolling under a bookshelf. He looked up in surprise, and then wanted to groan when he saw that it was Augus – Ash’s _brother…_ well, sort of, they didn’t share last names, after all. He managed to look uncommonly good as he stepped sideways and pulled out a chair fluidly, coat hardly rumpling, tie in place and his hair better looked after than some of the women he knew.

‘Assonance,’ Augus said, tongue forming the world precisely.

‘Look, if you’re here to-’

‘Oh, hold on,’ Augus said, holding up a hand and laughing quietly.

Gwyn looked around. This part of the library was deserted. It was late Friday evening, and Gwyn was putting off driving home for the weekend. He’d likely pay for it somehow – a lecture, a stern look, something worse – but he took the moments of rebellion when he could.

Augus slid off his backpack and sighed in relief.

‘No, I’m here to apologise,’ he said, getting up and crouching on the floor by the bookshelf, hand moving quickly in the dark space until he pulled out a pen clean of dust. He placed it back on the table where Gwyn had been taking notes. He’d always studied better when he was handwriting what he wanted to remember. Computers were all well and good, but he wasn’t as computer literate as most, and sometimes he still needed help formatting his assignments.

‘You…what?’ Gwyn stared at him.

‘Yeah,’ Augus said, offering an easy smile. ‘Look, I know he’s kind of wild, but he does take it too far sometimes. I mean, you have no idea. You should try living with him!’

Augus laughed, the sound rich, and Gwyn started to smile along with him, until he realised that Augus couldn’t be trusted. Everyone knew that, though no one really knew _why._

‘I’m- I’m sorry for my part,’ Gwyn said awkwardly. ‘I shouldn’t have retaliated like that.’

Augus gave him a hard look that disappeared so quickly into a softer expression that Gwyn was almost sure he’d imagined it. Augus raised Gwyn’s pen to his mouth and placed the capped end on his lower lip. Gwyn stared, and then looked up to his eyes. Green, watching him, Gwyn shifted uncomfortably.

‘So…if that’s all…’ Gwyn said.

‘In such a hurry to get rid of me?’ Augus said, eyebrows twisting together, pen sliding from his lip. ‘I suppose my reputation really does precede me. Folks like you can’t be seen with folks like us, right?’

Gwyn remembered his father’s warning:

_I don’t want you to have anything to do with those boys, do you understand me?_

‘That’s a bit city mouse, country mouse, isn’t it?’ Gwyn said, shoving away his father’s words and deciding that what his father didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Either of them.

‘Upper class versus dregs of the universe.’

‘Oh,’ Gwyn smiled. ‘And I suppose that’s why you’re Prefect and on track to get into one of the top four universities, while people like me struggle with things like _assonance?’_

Augus’ eyes widened, as though surprised…in a good way. Gwyn shook his head and reached out, taking his pen from Augus’ fingers and writing down the correct word, putting an asterix next to it.

‘What does the asterix mean?’ Augus said, leaning over, hair falling in a curtain over his features.

‘I…it means I have to research it more, later.’

Augus started to laugh when he looked over Gwyn’s other notes, and Gwyn flushed, rubbed at his cheeks.

There were an awful lot of asterixes on his English Lit papers.

‘You look like you could do with some help,’ Augus said, shaking his head and meeting Gwyn’s eyes, a warm glow in them. ‘You know I’m nailing Lit.’

‘I also know you’re in an opposing house, and I smashed your brother’s face in,’ Gwyn said, collecting his papers together.

‘My brother can fight his own battles,’ Augus said, with a sigh of the long-suffering. ‘Going after the Ap Nudd family. Really. He should know better.’

‘I…’ Gwyn stared at him, frowned. ‘He wasn’t going after my _family,_ he was going after _me.’_

‘It’s all the same, isn’t it?’ Augus said lightly, trailing his finger over Gwyn’s notes. Gwyn watched the gesture and his mouth felt dry. When had that happened? It wasn’t as though Augus was _attractive._ Except that…

He’d caught himself watching the Prefect before. He’d watched the fencing finals last year, saw the way Augus worked the epee, quietly competent with his body. He wore his school suits well, even if they weren’t tailored like Gwyn’s were. His eyes weren’t lively and vivacious like Mafydd’s had been, but they held a composed sort of challenge in them. There was no time one could make eye contact with Augus and not feel _assessed_ by him.

Gwyn didn’t know why he liked that. If he ever thought about it in more detail, ever fantasised about undressing in front of him, or even more, he mostly thought Augus would simply stare critically at his dick and walk away, scoffing.

‘It’s not the same,’ Gwyn said, pulling his papers towards him, and settling them out of Augus’ reach.

Augus pulled Gwyn’s laptop towards him, and Gwyn huffed and closed it, put it on his papers, folded his arms.

‘It’s not the same,’ Gwyn insisted.

‘What? You mooch off them. Get whatever you want, don’t you? I notice _you_ haven’t been suspended. My brother’s facing a police investigation.’

‘I didn’t know that,’ Gwyn said, eyes widening.

‘Well, that’s his own business,’ Augus said reluctantly.

‘Do you want me to…say something?’ Gwyn said awkwardly. ‘Because he really did key coach’s car. We had championships. We had – it was more than just keying, he broke the windows and- and _pissed_ on the seat. The thing wasn’t driveable!’

Augus sighed.

‘He can fight his own battles. I doubt the police investigation will come to anything. It’s not like he hasn’t been under the spotlight of the law before and gotten away with the things he does.’

Augus sounded beleaguered.

‘Do you have any brothers or sisters? You don’t, do you?’

‘No,’ Gwyn said. ‘Mother tried but…’

_That was none of Augus’ business._

‘That’s a lot of pressure, isn’t it? I’ll admit, I don’t know much about families like yours, but that’s the case, isn’t it?’

‘What do you want, Augus?’ Gwyn said, and Augus flashed a grin at him.

‘What, I can’t get to know you better?’

‘I think you _want_ something.’

‘Maybe I do,’ Augus said. ‘Did you really get that kid expelled?’

‘I didn’t _get_ him expelled!’ Gwyn shouted, and then clapped a hand over his mouth and looked around. No one was around to react, but either way, the conversation was over. Gwyn started putting away all his gear. He could study somewhere else. He didn’t like to study in the dorms, it was harder to concentrate there. Whenever he was near a bed, he wanted to _sleep._

Maybe he could get something to eat. He’d spent so long picking through the pasta at lunch, looking for…he wasn’t even certain what he was examining it for…that it had gone cold and the sauce had turned gluggy and in the end it was wholly unappetising. He needed some protein. Perhaps he could commandeer the home economics rooms and make himself some chicken.

_Privilege of the rich._

He felt guilty, even though Augus had no idea what he was thinking.

‘I’m sorry,’ Augus said. ‘Just, it’s hard for queer students like us, you know?’

Gwyn froze, laptop halfway in his rucksack and his eyes widening. His gaze slid sideways to Augus’.

‘What?’ Gwyn said.

‘You know, for queers,’ Augus said, like he hadn’t said anything out of the ordinary. Then he paused and his eyes widened. ‘What, you didn’t know?’

‘You’re gay?’

‘Pan,’ Augus said, and Gwyn furrowed his brow until he realised what Augus was saying. _Pansexual._ One of those terms he’d seen on the internet, in the confusing corners that made him think too much and hurt his head.

‘You mean you’re up for anything,’ Gwyn clarified.

‘You mean you like all cock no matter what form it comes in?’

Gwyn felt abashed.

‘No, I just meant-’

‘I know what you meant,’ Augus laughed to ease the tension, but Gwyn couldn’t stop staring at him. He thought he was pretty good at…picking the people in the school like him. He’d picked Gulvi years before she had a girlfriend, all the way back when she’d fallen in love with Ash. He’d wondered about Augus in the beginning, and then just assumed he was straight and consumed in schoolwork. Not that he should care so much. It was just after years of…feeling on the outside of everything at home, he started to look for the other outsiders.

It was ridiculous. He couldn’t spend any time with them anyway, most of them hated him on principle.

‘So what happened?’ Augus said, checking his phone quickly and then putting it back in his pocket. ‘With that kid?’

‘It’s really none of your business,’ Gwyn said, voice stiff. He cleared his throat, stood up, pushed his chair in. It clunked against the desk. He’d shoved it too hard. ‘Just because you’re… there’s no _club._ I don’t owe you anything.’

‘Cagey much?’ Augus said. The casual words didn’t suit him as much as the more formal speech. Gwyn had no idea how his accent was so upper class and genteel, when by all accounts – including his own – he’d spent much of his life on the streets or in terrible home environments. ‘Hang back a bit. Please? I just thought…with everything that happened, it was a good excuse to get to know you better.’

‘Right,’ Gwyn laughed bitterly. ‘Get to know _me_ better. You don’t mean grill me about my history and do something…untoward with it? I don’t know what you’re up to, Augus, but you can’t get that one by me.’

Augus’ expression shuttered, and then his lips thinned and pulled together.

 _‘Fine,’_ he snapped. He pulled out his phone, keyed in a passcode and opened something. He flashed the screen to Gwyn, and Gwyn’s eyes widened when he saw the recording app. Augus pressed stop with a flourish, turned his phone off, and shoved it into his pocket. ‘Fine. Happy?’

He stood, walked towards Gwyn so quickly that Gwyn backed up without even thinking. He hit the wall, pins from a corkboard digging into his back. He hissed, and Augus poked a sharp fingernail into his chest.

‘I don’t need you to say it anyway,’ Augus said. ‘I _know_ what happened. Mafydd Brant, right? A year above you at the time, and everyone thought he took advantage of you. But you wanted it. Only you didn’t _tell_ anyone that, did you? Just told them what dear old Daddy told you to say. You, stuttering in front of the Principal that you had hardly any idea how it happened, despite the fact that Mafydd is pretty sure you _begged_ him to fuck you in the end.’

Gwyn stared at him, breathing coming faster. Augus’ nail was a tiny, sharp pain in his chest. He wondered if that was what it felt like to be on the receiving end of his rapier.

Augus reached for his phone again, and the screen lit up his face.

‘I went on an adventure yesterday,’ Augus said, voice so quiet Gwyn almost had to strain for it. ‘I work at Sethsmith and Hougham, and they have these wonderful _databases_ telling me where people live. I know, I know, terribly illegal. I think. I can never remember. But I got your little friend on the phone last night, and he was just _dying_ to tell me, well- Listen for yourself.’

Augus tapped his fingers over his phone and Gwyn closed his eyes when he heard Mafydd’s voice:

 _‘One moment I was like…in love with this kid, you know, and the next I was fucking expelled and fucking, even my mum thought I was some kind of sex offender. I didn’t even- I didn’t even get to_ speak _to him about it. It all had to be done through lawyers. That time we got seen together was the last time- the last time I even got to speak to him. Can you pass a message onto him for me? Just tell him I’m not mad, even though, you know, I mean I can’t even do what I was supposed to. I can’t- They told me I can’t go to the university he goes to. I have to stay away. I’m a year_ above _him. My education’s like, on hold now, isn’t it? Until he decides where he matriculates. I just don’t know why no one believes me. I even have the text messages he sent me, and no one wanted to see them. I still have them! He wanted it, man. I didn’t take advantage of him, I fucking swear, I mean-’_

Gwyn grabbed at Augus’ phone, and Augus danced out of the way, locking his phone and holding his hands up to fend Gwyn off.

‘It’s backed up,’ Augus said. ‘Did your parents ever get to hear about it? About Mafydd’s side of the story? They probably won’t care, too busy scrambling to your defence. But did the _school_ ever get to hear about it? The PA system is hackable. Did you know?’

Gwyn’s heart was pounding as hard as it did when he won a bout.

‘Give it to me,’ Gwyn said. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing with that.’

‘I think I do,’ Augus’ lips lifted in a half-smile and Gwyn was too busy thinking _fuck me, fuck me, FUCK me that is not hot, he’s not hot, he’s a devious fucking asshole._

‘What do you want?’ Gwyn said, voice cracking. ‘Do you think you’ll get away with this?’

‘Oh, you going to get your dad to throw money at me? Hm? Is that it?’

Gwyn didn’t know that Mafydd had kept any of those text messages. He’d sworn to him at the time that he was deleting them as he got them. Gwyn made him promise. He’d _promised._ Mafydd knew what would happen if his father found out about them. He was one of the _only_ people who knew.

Jesus, what if Mafydd had told Augus about _that?_

‘Don’t look so scared, sweetheart,’ Augus said, voice mock-soothing. ‘I don’t play all my cards unless I really _need_ to.’

‘Just tell me what you want.’

‘I don’t know yet,’ Augus said. ‘I’m just trying to imagine all those wrestler’s faces when they find out you’re a wide receiver. I mean, you bottom?’

Augus raised his eyebrows in surprise – but none of it was genuine. He looked like he was having a grand time. Gwyn’s knuckles itched. His left hand clenched into a tight fist and his breath huffed out of his nostrils.

Augus noticed.

‘Go on then,’ Augus said, licking his lips slowly. ‘Deck me in the library. Without cause. The second unfortunate brother who can only afford to be here on a full scholarship. That’s going to bolster your case, isn’t it? I dare you. You think I haven’t been hit before?’

Gwyn’s hand flexed, clenched, flexed again. He wanted to run out of there – screw the elevator, he needed to burn off energy on the stairs. He wanted to go. He had to _go home_ that night, look his father in the eyes, pretend this wasn’t happening.

‘Can you just tell me what you want?’ Gwyn said. ‘Please?’

‘Is that how you begged Mafydd?’ Augus said. ‘Pretty and desperate like that?’

_Pretty and desperate like that?_

Mafydd had liked that about him too. Gwyn wasn’t an idiot. He knew that some people got off on people who looked like him – the barely popular sports-jock, only likely to get into one of the big four universities on a sports scholarship – on their knees. Maybe Augus was one of them. Maybe-

Gwyn grabbed Augus by the upper arms and ignored the way he struggled, having height and weight and sheer strength against him. He manhandled him against the wall even while Augus spat insults and threats, clearly thinking Gwyn was about to punch him. He knew the security cameras didn’t cover this section. He only studied in this part of the library because it was one of the few places he’d ever felt free to really…be himself.

Because Mafydd had shown him that the security cameras didn’t extend this far.

He went to his knees even as Augus lifted his hand to strike him, quickly undoing Augus’ pants, sliding down the zipper fast.

‘Wait,’ Augus said, sounding shocked. ‘Gwyn, I didn’t-’

‘Be quiet,’ Gwyn said, closing his eyes briefly, and then pressing his mouth to the soft fabric of Augus boxers, inhaling the sharp, thick scent of Augus’ crotch. He couldn’t really say it wasn’t like him, could he? It wasn’t the first time he’d done this. He’d toured the strip downtown, he knew all about alleyways and cold, dirty knees and the taste of strange men’s come against his throat. Sure, he’d only done it _twice,_ each time terrified his father would find out, but…

It wasn’t unfamiliar.

He was getting an idea of what people liked.

Fingers curled rough in his hair and Augus ground his soft dick against Gwyn’s face. Gwyn ignored the way his dick jumped, Prefect of Raven House standing above him, fingernails scraping across his scalp. His heart pounded out fear and desperation and something headier and darker.

‘Forget it,’ Augus breathed. ‘I had something else in mind. But this is…yeah, alright, this is better. You can give me this.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In our next chapter, 'Fountain of Youth:'
> 
> ‘What, virgins can’t be crude?’ Augus said, grinning. ‘Or is it that you’re wondering how I got him to talk? He was so reluctant at first. ‘But I’m not supposed to,’ ‘but I signed a contract,’ ‘I don’t even know you.’ But people want to talk, Gwyn. Everyone does. Even you, I’m guessing. Though what you talk about beyond wrestling and being an idiot at Lit is beyond me. Oh…perhaps dick. Maybe you talk about that too.’


	4. Fountain of Youth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New tags: first time, blowjobs, semi-public sex. You know, the FUN tags. :D 
> 
> Also, enjoy a very flustered Augus. :D

_Augus_

*

His gasps were thin when Gwyn put his mouth over his boxers. And all Augus could think was that he hadn’t showered, he hadn’t even _changed_ since the morning before and Gwyn didn’t even seem to _care._ He was taking deep, long breaths like it was _good._ Augus knew what he smelled like after two days without showering. He could tolerate it, but he was surprised someone else seemed to enjoy it.

Seeing the champion of the school – the one slated to get whatever sports scholarship he wanted, the one already scouted out for different university programs – on his knees, was dizzying. He’d watched at least ten, no, twenty, no - _more_ porn videos where this was the theme. He held curls of shortish, blond hair in his fingers, pressed Gwyn’s face closer, and instead of struggling against him, Gwyn went with it, nose pressed hard into his pelvis and something wriggling a line over his hardening dick. When Augus realised it was Gwyn’s tongue – hot and spreading a damp patch over his underwear – he tilted his head back.

‘Fucking suck me already,’ Augus groaned.

Because he’d dreamed about it, imagined it, but never actually experienced it, and this was already very different to just vicing a lubed hand around his dick and going to town in his head about what someone blowing him might actually feel like.

Giant fingers slipped into his boxers and drew him out, calluses brushed against him in a way that stung and had Augus’ hips bucking against Gwyn’s face, almost knocking him backwards.

‘Take it easy,’ Gwyn chastised, but he sounded amused.

Not vulnerable, not scared, not any of that deliciousness he’d been putting forth earlier. Now he just sounded like _he knew what he was doing._

‘You fucking slut,’ Augus gasped, looking down.

Gwyn’s head shot up and he stared at him, something angry in his eyes, his jaw tensed.

He let go of Augus’ dick instantly, and then ducked his head out from beneath Augus’ fingers. Augus’ eyes widened when he realised what he’d said, and he reached for Gwyn’s shoulder, claws snagging in his shirt.

‘Wait,’ Augus said. ‘I say it to my brother all the time.’

‘Before he blows you?’ Gwyn said, quirking an eyebrow. ‘I always wondered about you two.’

‘Fuck _off,’_ Augus snarled, disgusted.

‘I’m not your brother, don’t say that to me.’

‘You’re very confident for someone whose life could be ruined by what I’ve got on tape.’

Gwyn stiffened, stared at him. Augus raised both his eyebrows in response. He could tell from this distance that Gwyn didn’t have to shave. Not yet, anyway. He could see the fact that he didn’t care about things like plucking or waxing his eyebrows, and that he had what looked like a scratch underneath his shirt, probably where Augus had grabbed him.

‘Come on,’ Augus said, leaning back against the wall. ‘You seem like you know what you’re doing.’

He made an embarrassingly high noise when Gwyn grabbed his dick with fingers that were too rough. He looked down, caught, and Gwyn stared up at him.

‘Delete it,’ Gwyn said, squeezing slightly.

‘I’ll think about it after,’ Augus said, wincing and then gasping when Gwyn’s hand moved up and down his length. He opened his mouth to taunt, to say _something,_ and only came up with:

‘You overachiever.’

‘Thanks,’ Gwyn said, flat.

Augus thought he would leave. Thought that offering to delete it later wouldn’t be good enough; knew that extorting sexual favours – he hadn’t _really_ intended to do that, exactly – was probably way beyond even what he thought was acceptable. But then slightly dry lips were wrapping around the head of his dick, a tongue was pushing back his foreskin and laving over the sensitive skin beneath and Augus hissed, knees beginning to shake.

The inside of Gwyn’s mouth was warm and not as slick as he’d expected. He felt a light ridge of the underside of Gwyn’s teeth, before that was tucked away behind his lips. Gwyn sucked hard, almost painfully so, several times, and Augus groaned even as he realised that Gwyn was getting more saliva into his mouth, because a moment later the broad flat of a tongue was painting it over him.

Heat dropped from his chest down into his gut, and then further still into his balls. He wasn’t sure he’d actually gotten hard so quickly before. His fingers fisted in Gwyn’s hair and he tried not to buck forwards and failed, pathetically.

He figured it was his first time, he could hardly be blamed for-

_‘Jesus fucking- What are you doing?’_ Augus squeaked, forcing his eyes forward from where they’d rolled into the back of his head, in order to stare down at the top of Gwyn’s hair, shuddering, bowing over him.

It wasn’t like _all_ of his dick was in Gwyn’s mouth, but he could feel the head of himself brushing up against that tight space of Gwyn’s _throat_ and he wanted to be composed the first time this happened. He wanted to be _put together._ He always imagined himself drawling one liners and saying filthy things and instead Gwyn had Augus' dick filling his mouth and the back of his throat felt like something he couldn’t even _try_ and replicate with his hands and then Gwyn was chuckling, _chuckling_ over him and the vibrations were right there and his balls were drawing up and he was telling himself _no, really, wait, he’s only been down there for about sixty seconds and he’s hardly moved his head back and forth you’re supposed to make the most of this at least pull his hair some more, you-_

Augus came hard. His palm slapped against the wall behind him and he made an awkward sound that was half inhale, half strangled choke as his throat closed up and his lungs heaved for air at the same time. And it felt weird, it _did,_ to not be spilling onto his own hand or to be seeing his release pool into a tissue or be immediately washed away in a shower. Not having to do anything but concentrate on remaining standing as Gwyn had no choice but to stay put, Augus’ other hand having an unwittingly cruel grip on the top of his head, fingers scratching back and forth with each spasm that rocked up the back of his thighs.

Gwyn coughed around him, his mouth tightened to the point that it was painful and Augus let go immediately. Gwyn pulled off, coughing deep in his chest, hand coming up to cover his mouth as he turned away. But he didn’t spit anything out, and Augus stared, wide-eyed, breathing hoarsely, as Gwyn coughed a few more times and then was clearly _swallowing._

‘What do I taste like?’ Augus said, realising he should care more that they were in a library, and just _not._

‘Like come,’ Gwyn said, voice thick like he was recovering from a sore throat, and the glee Augus felt at doing _that_ to him was so intense that he briefly closed his eyes again.

Gwyn pushed himself to his feet, a fairly formidable bulge in his jeans and a dazed look in his eyes. They were faintly red rimmed, but Augus saw no signs of tears. He supposed sixty seconds wasn’t long enough.

Gwyn stepped forwards and Augus thought they were going to kiss, he thought-

Gwyn reached into Augus’ pocket and snatched out his phone.

‘Virgins,’ Gwyn muttered under his breath.

‘It’s locked,’ Augus said, not moving, though his instincts were to lunge at Gwyn and snatch it off him, he was about one hundred percent certain how effective _that_ would be.

‘I’m sure that if I kept this, it would cost a fair penny for you to get it replaced, wouldn’t it? You’re not exactly _rolling_ in cash. Your brother could steal one, I’m sure, everyone knows what he gets up to – but I’m guessing that if this is a _stolen_ phone, you probably have to be pretty careful about…linking accounts, don’t you? At least? You’d have to build everything from scratch – contacts, history.’

‘It’s backed up. You steal my phone and I will email everything Mafydd said to your parents. And trust me, you don’t want them knowing in fairly X-rated detail just _how_ tight you were the first time Mafydd got it up there.’

Gwyn stared at him.

‘What, virgins can’t be crude?’ Augus said, grinning. ‘Or is it that you’re wondering how I got him to talk? He was so reluctant at first. ‘But I’m not supposed to,’ ‘but I signed a contract,’ ‘I don’t even know you.’ But people want to talk, Gwyn. Everyone does. Even you, I’m guessing. Though what you talk about beyond wrestling and being an idiot at Lit is beyond me. Oh…perhaps dick. Maybe you talk about that too.’

Augus tucked himself into his pants and zipped up the fly of his own jeans, licking his lips. His head was pounding from the force of his orgasm. He felt like he’d had some kind of revelation. Gwyn was _good_ at this, he was sure. And he was sure it was more than just…the bias of it being his first time.

‘You don’t know me,’ Gwyn said stiffly, still holding the phone above his head. His lips were still swollen. The bulge in his jeans was…less noticeable. Augus thought that was rather a shame.

He walked slowly towards Gwyn and Gwyn’s arm stretched higher to the ceiling, which was almost perfect really, because it meant it was harder for him to push Augus away when he wrapped one arm around his taut waist and pressed his hand against the bulge of his dick, tracing it with his fingers. His mouth opened at his own daring, his eyes lidded, and Gwyn jolted in his arms; like he wanted to get away and didn’t, at the same time.

‘Why don’t you care about being caught?’ Augus said, looking around. His eyes narrowed. ‘It’s a blind spot, isn’t it? Because someone like you would _care_ about being caught. Especially after what happened last time.’

Gwyn made a choked sound as Augus stretched fingers to his fly and undid the button. Gwyn was still wearing his uniform, and the black button was stiff as he worked it through the material. The briefs beneath were black, simple, and probably cost more than Augus could imagine.

He wriggled his fingers beneath, the skin on his knuckles catching on the elastic band.

Gwyn was definitely trembling.

Augus’ breathing was evening out. This was a lot easier to do now that he’d just blown his load into someone else’s mouth. He hardly even had to worry about clean up. _Convenient._

He felt faint wisps of pubic hair – not nearly as much as he’d expected – and certainly less than what he had. He rubbed at it curiously, and Gwyn inhaled sharply. Augus didn’t look up at him, focusing instead on slipping dexterous fingers around a dick that was bent to the side – far too trapped for its own comfort he was sure – and thick enough that the ring of his index finger and thumb couldn’t quite close around it. He could smell it between them – sweat and come and he thought it would be disgusting but it wasn’t.

He bit his bottom lip and began stroking Gwyn, hardly able to move, his wrist at an odd angle.

The hand that wasn’t holding Augus’ phone shifted, and Gwyn started to dig his fingers into his pants, like he wanted to draw himself out.

‘No,’ Augus said, his voice surprisingly strong given everything that was happening. Gwyn – equally surprising – froze. ‘No, I want you to come in your tailored fucking pants.’

‘Augus,’ Gwyn breathed, voice faintly wrecked. ‘Can you just-’

‘What was it like?’ Augus said, working his hand faster and feeling more of Gwyn’s length in his palm and finding it dizzying. ‘You must have really liked him. A lot. You put everything on the line for him. And then it all ended the way that it did? He was pretty sad, you know.’

Not sad, exactly. _Bitter,_ Augus was guessing. Mafydd had been interesting enough. A little too cocky and brash for his tastes. He’d been a little _too_ willing to spill everything. For someone who had been made to sign a contract and a confidentiality agreement, he seemed to want to vent about the whole situation.

And it didn’t really seem like Mafydd was really…heartbroken over the whole thing.

Just cut up about the university situation.

Gwyn’s chest was heaving above him, in time to each of Augus’ fast, tight tugs. Something caught at the top of each inhale, like the beginning of a sob.

‘I’m not someone you want to cross,’ Augus said, breathless now because he could feel the way Gwyn was winding up and knew it was uncomfortable because he’d tried to get himself off in his own pants before and he _hated_ it, but he also knew it was more than possible. He pressed the side of his head into Gwyn’s collarbone and kept looking down. ‘And they don’t want to expel _me,_ or even _Ash,_ because guess what? They need to meet a quota of disadvantaged students. It’s part of their creed. And I’m a good choice for them, because I’m _definitely_ going to a university. No wonder you bottom, by the way. I’m pretty sure this is a weapon of mass destruction.’

Gwyn made a low, pained sound and his hips bucked into Augus’ hand. But he didn’t come, not yet.

Augus was surprised at how much he was enjoying himself. He turned his face into Gwyn’s neck and smelled the faintest whiff of cologne. He wondered what it was. Beneath that, a sharp sweat – fear and arousal and who knew what else. Augus hummed in the back of his throat and he realised how ridiculous they must look, Gwyn still holding the phone above his head.

‘Keep my phone,’ Augus gritted out as he tightened his grip and worked Gwyn so roughly in his pants that Gwyn tried to half-heartedly push him away. ‘Keep it. Jailbreak it. You’re desperate. And you know what? I think you’re lonely. Gay and expected to be a sports-star, and everyone knowing that you got Mafydd expelled, no matter what you say. The only people who believe it was sexual assault is your parents. And they were just _covering_ for you.’

Gwyn’s knees started to buckle and he caught himself. His spine stiffened, his head bowed forwards and pressed hard against Augus’ head and he was coming, silently, mouth open and breaths rough against Augus’ shirt. Augus’ fingers stayed in that cramped space and were getting painted with spill, and Augus couldn’t tell if he liked it or not, but he certainly liked the _power._ And when Gwyn seemed to half-collapse onto him, his weight pushing Augus a step backwards, he liked that too.

He carefully plucked his phone from Gwyn’s fingers with his spare hand, and Gwyn made a sound like he was hurt.

Augus’ eyes narrowed.

Gwyn stepped back from him, a shaking hand moving to cover his crotch even though it was far too late – Augus was already surreptitiously wiping remnants of Gwyn’s creamy spill onto the underside of his shirt. Everything got laundered over the weekend, it’d be fine. Maybe he’d just rinse it quickly when he got back to his dorm.

Gwyn looked up and Augus stilled.

His eyes were wet, tears clinging to his eyelashes and the rims so red that the blue was almost painful. No one’s eyes should look like that. It wasn’t _fair._

‘I’m sorry I hit him,’ Gwyn said, each word carefully placed down like it was fragile. ‘That’s what you want, isn’t it? Or my- or my humiliation. Were you recording this too? Is this…’

Gwyn closed his eyes, his other hand pressing into his stomach. He looked far too pale all of a sudden, and Augus was about to leave, about to grab his bag and just _leave,_ and instead he found himself walking forwards and pushing Gwyn back into a chair.

The fact that Gwyn didn’t struggle, didn’t even _fight_ him, was shocking. Augus drew a chair up and faced him. He felt more like he just wanted to curl up in a bed and sleep, but he supposed that was an ingrained habit.

‘I wasn’t recording this,’ Augus said quietly. He laughed. ‘You have no reason to believe me, but I wasn’t.’

‘Then what do you want?’ Gwyn said, resting his head in his hands and not even looking at him. His fingers were still shaking. Augus huffed under his breath and reached over for his rucksack, opening it quickly. He drew out the half-sandwich that was left.

‘You look like you could eat,’ Augus said, and pushed it over.

Gwyn’s head twitched towards it, but he didn’t pick it up, didn’t take it. Maybe he wasn’t hungry. Augus figured anyone who looked that pale, that suddenly, was possibly dealing with more than just emotional distress. It wasn’t like he hadn’t seen kids who were starving in some of the homes he’d lived in, after all.

And then he paused and squinted at the half-sandwich, and back to Gwyn.

It was a weird feeling to get about _Gwyn_ though…

‘Just tell me what you want, Augus,’ Gwyn said, and Augus sighed.

‘Social capital,’ Augus said, pursing his lips. ‘Ash, as you can probably imagine, does nothing solid for my reputation. Despite everything that happened, you’re still well respected by the Principal and many of the staff, and many of the students give you a wide berth. I could ruin you, but I’d much rather take advantage of something you have in abundance. I want you to start spending time with me.’

_That…_ hadn’t been exactly what Augus wanted either. Really, he just wanted to threaten him and hold his life around his little finger for a while – well, until the end of school, really.

He sat there, surprised at what he’d said and still meaning every word of it.

_I want you to start spending time with me._

Augus figured he probably just wanted more of those blowjobs, and dismissed anything else he felt on the matter.

‘My Dad says I can’t,’ Gwyn said, shifting his dick in his pants and then looking up at Augus with the kind of soulful eyes he’d seen on dogs begging for food.

‘You do everything your Dad says? Oh wait, don’t answer that. Do you _want_ to? I’m not saying we have to date or anything. Just spend time with me. Sit with me in the library sometimes. Have lunch with me. Just let people see us together sometimes.’

‘They’ll think we’re fucking,’ Gwyn said. ‘And then you’ll get expelled.’

The laugh that Gwyn gave was so bleak that it scraped at something in Augus’ chest.

‘I don’t get expelled,’ Augus said. ‘I’m airtight.’

Gwyn said nothing, and Augus laughed.

‘Okay then, hang out with all of us.’

Gwyn looked up and stared at him.

‘I just _hit_ your brother. You hate me. I _know_ you’re going to fuck me over.’

‘Yeah,’ Augus said, leaning back in his chair. ‘We _both_ know that. Maybe you might change my mind? I’m flexible, and you don’t really have many other options, do you?’

Gwyn shook his head, shook it again, and then stood up stiffly and put away all his gear, checking and double checking it, before slinging it over his shoulder and giving Augus a long, unreadable look. He left Augus in the library, half a wrapped sandwich on the desk. Augus decided he was going to use the hot water until it ran out as soon as he could step into the damned shower.

*

Monday morning, after the weekend, Gwyn found him as he walked out of trigonometry.

Augus stared at him. He looked unwell.

‘Gwyn,’ Augus said, ignoring the brush of students past him and staring at him, ‘are you-’

‘Okay,’ Gwyn said, meeting his eyes, something lost in the depths of them. ‘Okay, I’ll spend time with you. It’s just- going to make you more likely to use the recording than not. I have no social capital.’

‘Except your family.’

Gwyn closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes, something glittered there that made Augus think he wanted to land a punch. It was a strange thing to think, given his body language was still…defeated.

‘Fuck them,’ Gwyn said, staring at Augus. ‘Right?’

‘Oh, so I’m going to be a part of your teen rebellion phase?’

‘If you want,’ Gwyn said.

He turned and walked away, feet dragging, and Augus had the oddest sense that he’d maybe stepped into something that was a lot bigger than he really understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No excerpt this time, sorry! I have to write more chapters. <3


End file.
